The Majority Has Been Wrong!

Text:Exedus 23:2, “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:”

Atheist why do you hate God?

I know you think about God and yet you still ignore his call. I know you have moments in your life when you consider giving it all to God. You try and reason with your convictions. It’s just not logical to believe in a God you cannot see, touch or feel.

The real crux of the issue is the many so-called Christians out there in the world. THE MAJORITY has been wrong time and time again in history. Just because someone has a large following and straps on a suit (or T-shirt) and says he is a Christian…does not mean it is so. Going to church does not make you a Christian. No matter how long you sit in the garage, you are not a car.

Atheist let me ask you this, “how can you tell someone how to be a Christian when you don’t read the same book that we do?” It always amazes me that people that do not follow Christ want to tell us how we should follow Christ. As if they we some sort of authority.

I understand. You don’t like it when someone runs at you like a bull with the truth…kind of like my friend YokeUP (Yokup Ministries: www.yokeup.net)…you get all red in the eye…”Christians are supposed to be nice”…”Christians are supposed to play this or that way”…”why can’t I just have a beer with ya and we work this out.”

In our nation’s history we recognize that often times the best man has been defeated and that bad propositions have won elections.

Anyone who says the majority is always right is not a very astute student of history. There are many issues that have received the support of the majority and yet they were wicked and sinful.

EX. 23:2 – God’s word makes it clear it is better and safer to stand with the minority than to be with the crowd. “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:”

In order to achieve any reward we must learn to stand on our conviction, regardless of popular sentiment. Greatness in the sight of God does not come thru conformity or political correctness. God desires people with backbone who will do the right thing whether anyone stands with them or not. The purpose of this lesson is to look at some Bible examples of decisions made by the majority.

– BIBLE EXAMPLES OF MAJORITY DECISIONS –

I. BARABBAS AND JESUS –

MATT. 27:1 – Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was on trial before the Jewish and Roman authorities and they sought to put him to death.

MATT. 27:15-22 – The Roman governor, Pontius Pilate, did not find any fault with Jesus. The Jews still; insisted that Jesus be put to death so Pilate had a proposal for them. Release Barabbas or Jesus. Barabbas won the caucus he gained the approval of the majority of the people, he got the most votes, but the majority was still wrong. How would you have voted, had you been there? We vote for or against Jesus today by the life we live – remember do not follow a crowd to do evil.

II. NOAH –

GEN. 6:5-6 – Noah lost the popular vote probably by the biggest landslide in the history of man, but Noah did not follow the crowd to do evil.

GEN. 6:8 – God found one man who was willing to live by his principles and so God decided to allow man the chance to be saved so he gave Noah a job to do.

GEN. 6:14-15 – Noah was to build the ark according to the instructions of God.

2 PET. 2:5 – When the popular vote was cast Noah only received 8 votes. All though only 8 souls were saved in that ark Noah had done his work well and had stood against the crowd. The multitude stood with a great popular vote, a real mandate but they were wrong and they could not stand against the wrath of God

III. MOSES –

HEB. 11:24-26 – Moses was born of parents who were slaves in Egypt, but he was raised by the daughter of Pharaoh. As the grandson of Pharaoh he was a ruler but when he saw his people – God’s chosen people – being mistreated by the Egyptians he had a choice to make and he chose the minority. Do we have that same kind of decisiveness and courage? Are we instilling that in our children? Are we willing to stand with the minority? Are we willing to stand against the forces of the majority? We either stand with God or follow the crowd led by Satan.

EPH. 6:10-13 – We must take a stand against the evil one – Satan. Are we equipped to stand? Do we have the conviction to stand?

IV. JOSHUA AND CALEB –

NUM. 13:27-31 – The Israelites wanted to send spies into the land of Canaan, and God allowed them to do so. Moses appointed 12 men, one from each tribe, and they went to spy out the land but they did not all bring back the same assessment of the land. After the report of the spies the people had a decision to make. They could follow the decision of the majority which was wrong or follow the minority who were intent on complying with God’s will. The people made the wrong choice and to their regret they wandered in the wilderness for 40 years paying for their mistake. The majority was wrong again. Joshua and Caleb stood with the minority.

ACTS 8:1-4 – First century Christians were in the minority. They were persecuted and yet they proclaimed the gospel.

V. ELIJAH AND AHAB –

1 KINGS 18:21-24 – Elijah had the courage to stand alone against King Ahab and his prophets. Elijah proposed a test to see who the true God is.

1 KINGS 18:25-29 – Elijah was out numbered 450 -1 yet the majority was not successful in calling on Baal to consume the sacrifice.

1 KINGS 18:27-30 – Elijah poured water over his bullock and the altar even filling the trench and God consumed the burnt offering with fire. The majority was wrong again and they paid the price for it.

Conclusion

The majority is not always right. When you are tempted to go along with the crowd and stand with the majority remember the majority is often wrong. Remember that Barabbas got more votes than Jesus.